OOM: Uppsala

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Inside the tent, it's murky and a bit smelly, and full of rather drunk people lying around and laughing.

"Athelstan, pour your friend a drink," Ragnar calls from somewhere in the middle, waving at the people entering.

Comments

[athelstanthescribe]

"I don't", he says to Dorian, and his smile fades. "Perhaps more than one."

[capture_eternity]

"But there is something?" Dorian asks.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Those voices tell you different things, and you're torn between the different ways of things being right?" Ragnar guesses.

[athelstanthescribe]

"I no longer hear my God", he admits. "Not in this land. But I remember."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"So you hear our gods," Ragnar states, "even if their voices may be a little strange to you. They, and our land, have claimed you, then."

His voice is grave, but he seems satisfied with that result.

[capture_eternity]

"Do you think you'll hear your own God again if you ever return to people who believe in him?" Dorian asks.

[athelstanthescribe]

"How can I tell? Perhaps." He glances briefly at Ragnar, then away. "If I return."

He doesn't sound desperate to do so.

[capture_eternity]

"You might go with Ragnar the next time he goes on Viking," Dorian muses. "You know all the languages along the way, after all."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar chuckles. "You're thinking like a merchant who travels overland, or along the coasts and rivers," he says. "All the languages along the way are those of the waves, the fish, and the seagulls, and I doubt even Ragnar speaks them. And yes, I might even take him along if there's the chance. He's one of us now."

[athelstanthescribe]

That gets a look somewhere between startlement and panic.

"But you know I'm no warrior."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"But you know," Ragnar answers, with a fond smile, "that the gods need men who aren't just warriors. You'll learn to hold your own easily enough i that is needed; as for the rest, there are things you are very good at nobody else can do."

[capture_eternity]

Dorian sips his mead and tries not to grin.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Does that mean you'll teach me to fight?"

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Of course, if there's the need and we get the chance," Ragnar says. "The gods willing."

[capture_eternity]

"You'll be a proper Viking in no time!" Dorian says, laughing.

[athelstanthescribe]

"I'm not tall enough to be a proper Viking", he says, amused. "But then, neither is Arne."

[capture_eternity]

"Just take a longer axe," Dorian says, grinning.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"It's not quite that easy, my Frankish friend," Ragnar laughs.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Perhaps I should practise with Arne", he says more thoughtfully. "Or Bjorn, before he gets tall."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"A first, maybe," Ragnar says.

[capture_eternity]

"Later, you can graduate to full-size opponents," Dorian says.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan makes a face at him.

"Yes. In due time."

[capture_eternity]

"In the end, you'll learn to fell giants," Dorian says.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"He can do that by other means," Ragnar says. "our Athelstan is clever and valued."

[athelstanthescribe]

"Perhaps." Athelstan takes a drink. "Perhaps I could fell giants, I mean, not the other."